Data Collection Continues on Cause of Odor from Good Day Farm

By Alyssa Schnugg

News editor

alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

Good Day Farm, a medical cannabis cultivation plant in Lafayette County, is continuing to gather data on when local neighborhoods are experiencing a strong smell of marijuana.

Last month, Building Official Joel Hollowell told the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors during a regular meeting that his office had received more than 20 complaints from people living in neighborhoods around the Lafayette County Max D. Hipp Industrial Park where Good Day Farm is located.

The Board instructed Nate Steel, chief compliance and state governmental affairs officer with Good Day Farm, to begin working on what was causing the odor and to install at least 10 air scrubbers that the company had purchased but had not yet hooked up.

On Monday, Hollowell reported that the air scrubbers were in and that they seemed to be helping.

“From my own observations, I believe they are helping but we obviously haven’t eliminated those problems,” he said.

Hollowell said Good Day Farm brought in an odor expert who brought data gathering equipment and trained some Good Day Farm employees on how to use them.

“They have been going out three times a day every day to collect data,” Hollowell said. “They’re collecting information on how strong the smell is, what the wind is doing and what the humidity levels are and corresponding that to what activities are going on at the plant.”

David Rikard read an email from a resident who said she had seen Good Day Farm employees out by her house to gather data but that they were there when the smell wasn’t the strongest.

“It seems the smell is the strongest either early in the morning or at night,” Rikard said.

Steel said they are now starting to collect data earlier in the morning.

“We are trying to figure out what is causing it so we can use the right equipment to solve the problem,” Steel said.

Rikard and Supervisor Larry Gillespie said both told Steel that there needs to be a plan of action developed sooner rather than later.

“We need to get something done,” Rikard said. “We need to have a plan and move forward on doing whatever it is you need to do.”

Hollowell said his office will continue to work with Good Day Farm on evaluating the data for the next two weeks.

“We should have enough information by then to start making some decisions,” Hollowell said.

No action was taken by the Board Monday.